Monthly Archives: June 2009

I am not certain that is a word, but it should be. I think it is a verb, the action it describes is that thing that happens to a big fluffy pillow when you lay your head down on it. There is an immediate output of air from the pillow and then the outflows slows down and your head sinks to just the right level and…. ahhhh.

That is exactly how I felt this afternoon when Dave got home after 3 weeks away: whewfffshaaaahhh….. I gave him a kiss and promptly laid down on the couch and took a 3 hour nap while he played with the kids. whewfffshaaaahhhh.

I haven’t posted in quite a while, kept meaning to, there has been so much to talk about, so much that has been going on around here. Perhaps that is why, SO MUCH has been going on around here. I have always been a fairly busy person, there have been times in my life where I have been too busy, taken on too many things, said yes too many times. But, in the last few years, I have been able to break that cycle, I have gotten alot more intentional about what I commit myself to, and have stopped trying to do it all. I found that I am a much better mother, wife, daughter, friend, co-worker when I set those limits.

So how did the last 6 weeks get so crazy that the only thing I could say “no” to was my blog?

I am not sure. But boy howdy, has it been crazy. It has been really fun too, terribly fun, the best kind of fun, late nights and busy days spent with people I love, days spent out in the sun, etc etc. But now, the reset button has been hit and things are going back to regular speed instead of hyper-speed.

the kids and I came back from our trip, a grand 3 weeks it was, and they only had 5 weeks of school left. Those last weeks are filled with field trips and projects and parties and meetings. Kjell was gone more than he was home, having a 6th grade camping trip that took the majority of one week, then a youth group retreat the next week, followed by yet another overnight trip later that week with school. Broder had numerous field trips to concerts and plays and nature walks, even little Sunny got in on the act. Then it was city wide clean up day, then Sunny’s Daisy troop had their night at the zoo. And that took us to May 21.

In and amongst the fun both boys and the mama(that would be me) ended up with strep throat, lucky me, I got it 2x. I lost a couple days in there somewhere. I messed up my left knee as well, went to the Dr and he said ‘you’re getting old, kind of fat, and there is the beginning of arthritis. Lose some weight, and buy large bottles of ibuprophen”

I had joined weight watchers a couple weeks before the Dr appointment but I did stock up on the drugs at his suggestion, and the WW is working, slowly. I have lost about 15 lbs, and have a long long way to go, but eventually…

On Memorial Day, Cathy, Jim and Kajsa Stanley-Erickson flew into town and we spent the next 10 days eating and laughing and staying up way too late wishing we all lived closer to each other. It was so wonderful to have that time with them and to get to know Kajsa. What a delightful little kid, and boys does she ever have great parents! We got a camping trip in and everything.

Starting with Memorial Day and for the next 17 days, we had company non-stop. On 2 different occasions the bed and floor space at the Lawrence Hostel was completely full and an annex was erected in the back yard (other people call it a tent, but I think annex sounds so much better). Over that time period we had 15 people from all over staying/visiting at our place. We made endless batches of eggs for breakfast, thanks in large part to some of our guests who brought us several dozen farm fresh eggs, yum yum.! We put the backyard fire pit to good use introducing many of our friends and visitors to the joys of camp pies and smores with reese’s peanut butter cup centers.

the Stanley-Ericksons, the Bruces(who didn’t stay at our house but counted as visitors anyway since we hadn’t seen them in ages and they did spend the day with us), good friends from Kenai who based out of our place for a week while they helped to rebuild a deck for a woman who couldn’t do that on her own, Roy and Dorothy, my aunt and uncle who had a few days with us before departing on a cruise to celebrate their 50 years of wedded bliss, and Emma and Barret, the darling couple we met while camping in Seward who spent a night in our backyard and gifted us with several pounds of chocolate on their departure(these are good people!). It was great fun, and truly exhausting.

Dave was with us for most of the Stanley-Erickson visit, then it was back to work for him. He came home for 26 hours a couple of weeks ago, just enough time to go to dinner with Roy and Dorothy, have lunch with the Bruces the next day and hop on a plane to Texas where he spent the next 2 weeks in a series of training classes.

Last Monday I got a surprise call from Carol Lawrence, my beloved mother in law, and the kids and I spent the next 2 afternoons getting in a little Grandma time. That was an unexpected bonus to our week!

the weather has been great, we have been biking to church a bit, and spending as much time outside as possible. The house is a disaster, but that is ok, it will rain soon enough and the floors can get done then.

Over the next few weeks, we don’t have visitors scheduled, but we have stuff going on. Just before Dave left for Texas we bought a boat and this weekend we will be putting it in the water for the first time. Pretty exciting stuff. I am hoping to get comfortable trailering the thing so we can use it even when Dave is gone. We are going to head out of town to a couple of lakes north of here and camp and practice practice practice, driving the boat, putting it in the water, getting it out of the water, back in the water, etc etc. We hope to find a good camp spot on the far side of some lake and settle in for a day or 2.

Over the 4th of July, the kids and I will be joining friends for a trip to Chicken, Alaska. Never been to Chicken, but I hear it is a great place to visit, and supposedly there is a large German tourist component there, so perhaps the kids will get to practice their language skills a bit.

July 15th we head to Haines, Alaska, Dave will be with us on this trip. We are going to visit Dave’s folks and spend some time playing on the beach, and relaxing with the Alaska side of the family. Haines is a lovely town and it will be very fun to be there.

Then it is back home, for the last month of summer. the kids start school again in late August, too soon if things keep going at this pace! there is lots of fishing to do in that month. And then starts hunting season. Dave is hoping to take the boys on a float trip and “catch a moose” as Sunny would say. I am thinking that I will make a trip to one of Alaska’s hot springs while the guys are gone, anyone want to join me?

What a change from last summer, the packing and moving and medical that defined our lives for those months last year.

I am so thankful for the flexibility that my little job offers, being able to take off and do all these things. I am thankful too, for Dave’s schedule, even though he is away much of the time, when he is home, he is not bound to the office.

And I am so thankful for God’s provision, the bounty He has provided us, so far beyond what we could have ever hoped for, in the form of good jobs that allow us to give and play, and better yet, our fabulous loving friends and family!